Circuit breaker control mechanism



NOV; 13, 1945. PEARSON 2,388,934

" CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Feb. 27, 1942 *3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR MATIQRNEY Nov. 13, 1945. H. E. PEARSON CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTROL MECHANISM Filed Feb. 27, 1942 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 m M Mm Y 3 M RN m \N KW \N m w .A AN, W. M mi 2 m Patented Nov. 13, 1945 2,388,934 CIRCUIT BREAKER CONTROL MECHANISM Harold E. Pearson, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor, by 'mesne assignments, to Realty and Industrial Corporation, Convent,

New Jersey N. J., a corporation of Application February 27, 1942, Serial N 0. 432,571

13 Claims.

This invention relates to circuit breakers which are housed in compartments and wherein the front of each compartment is closed by a door or a removable panel. The circuit breaker in each of such compartments is mounted on a movable frame or truck in order that the breaker may be conveniently withdrawn or replaced. The movable unit carries yieldable contacts which engage fixed contacts at the rear of the compartment for connecting the circuit breaker to the buses and carries auxiliary contacts for engaging contacts mounted at the rear of the unit for control purposes. When the breaker unit is moved from its normal operating position outwardly from the compartment, the main circuit breaker contacts are interrupted while the auxiliary control contacts are still maintained. This isknown as the'test position. Upon further outward movement of the unit, the connections and the auxiliary control circuits are broken and all parts of the unit are disconnected from the fixed contacts of the compartment and this position is known as the disconnected position of the unit.

In each of these three positions, it is desirable to be able to open the breaker from the outside ofthe compartment when the door of the compartment is closed, particularly in the operative and in the test positions. It is also desirable in each of these positions to provide mechanism which will indicate at the front of the compartment whether the breaker is open or closed. These compartments are usually stacked one above the other and side by side and the door at the front is the usual means of access to each compartment.

Certain disclosures hereof and not claimed herein are covered in my divisional application .Serial N 0. 485,438, filed May 3, 1943.

One object of this invention is to provide means whereby the breaker may be tripped to open position manually from the front of the door when the same is closed and to be able to accomplish this regardless of the position of the breaker unit as regards the operative, test or disconnected position. Another object is to provide for the removal of such tripping means from the path of movement of the breaker parts when the door is opened. Other object and advantages will be understood from the following description and accompanying drawings which illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, showing the breaker in its compartment; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the breaker within its compartment, partly in section, on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a front view of the indicator through the door; Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view, partly in section, on the line 44 of Fig. l; Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view, partly in section of the auxiliary tripping control mechanism; and Fig. I) is an enlarged plan view, partlyin sectionof the indicator control mechanism,

The invention is applicable to any type of drawout circuit breaker and although 'in the drawings an air break circuit breaker of the form disclosed in the J. D. Wood Patent No. 2,129,723 granted September 13, 1938 is indicated, any other form or type of circuit breaker might be used and the present invention applied thereto; The compartment is shown provided with side walls and top and bottom walls I 0 preferably made of sheet steel. The rear end of the compartment, as shown in Fig. 2, is provided with an insulating panel II which supports the main conductors H which lead to the buses. These conductors pass through the panel II and are adapted to be engaged by the yieldable main contacts of the circuit breaker. On the front of this panel .is mounted a series of conductors I3 which are connected to auxiliary control circuitsand Whichextend forwardly beyond the ends of the conductors 12. The conductors I3 are adapted to be engaged by yieldable contacts carried by the movable unit which contacts are connected to the various control relays of the circuit breaker.

The movable unit is supported on a truckframe I4 provided with wheels I la which are in turn supported and guided by rails I5 positioned at the bottom of the compartment and at each side thereof. These rails permit the truck and breaker carried thereby to be moved forwardly to the test or to the disconnected position within the compartment from the operative position shown in Fig. 2. The truck supports a vertically extending insulating panel I6 which supports the circuit breaker and its controlling parts. The breaker shown is of the three-pole .type, as shown in Fig. 1, and is provided with fixed contacts connected to conductors I! which pass through the panel rearwardly andcarry the yieldable contacts which are adapted to engage the conductors I2 when the breaker is in the operating position. The panel supports the frames I8 which extend forwardly and support the main movable contact arms I9 of the breakers which are pivoted on the cross rod I911. The various parts of the breaker mechanismneed not be particularly described as they are shown the same as disclosed in said patent, it being suflicient to state that upon theautcmatic opening of any one of the poles of the breaker, the latch rod 20 is turned in a counterclockwise direction, looking at Fig. 2, which results in tripping all three poles of the breaker and causing them to mov to their open position. A series of conductors l3a is mounted on the panel [B and these conductors are connected to the various control circuits of the breaker and i are provided with yieldable contacts which are adapted to engage the conductors l3 respectively when the movable unit is in the operative position or in the test position.

As shown in Fig. 1, the latch shaft 2% is extended to the left beyond the panel 16 and at the end of the latch shaft is fixed a downwardly extending rod 2|. It is evident that if this rod 2| be forced rearwardly, it would result in the tripping and opening of the circuit breakers. The door 22 of the compartment is hinged at its lefthand side, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, and the lower left-hand corner of the door is provided with a push button 23 for manually tripping the breaker'when the door is closed. This push button is provided with a push rod 23a carrying the disk 23'b at its inner end on the inner side of the door. This rod is provided with a cross pin 23c and between it and the supporting frame of the push button and encircling the rod is a spring 23d for'normally'holding the rod in its outermost position.

' On top ofthe left-hand rail i5, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, is mounted a plate 24 which extends along a considerable portion of the length of the rail l and also overhangs the rail at the lefthand side. On this supporting plate near the inner end thereof are mounted three posts 25a,

25b and 250 which extend upwardly from the plate, as well shown in Fig. 2. On the top of each of-these posts are pivotally supported the arms 25a, 26b and 260, as well shown in Fig. 5. These arms extend over and are pivotally connected to a flat strip of metal 27 which extends forwardly and its front end is offset to come opposite the plate 231) of the trip rod. At an intermediate portion of the strip 2! and secured to the plate 24 is' located a u shaped metal element 28 with the two arms of the U extending upwardly. The strip 2'! passes freely through horizontal slots in the upper ends of the element 28, the length of these slots being sufficient to permit the strip 2'! to move sidewise therein. A disk 29 is mounted on the strip 21 and is held in place thereon by the pin 29a. A similar disk 2% is also mounted on-the strip 2'! and is freely movable thereon. Ayspring 3U; encircles the strip 21 between the disks 29 and 29bwhich holds the disk 2% against the rear arm of the element 28 and tends to force the disk 29 and strip 27 forwardly against the other arm of the element 28.

When the door of the compartment is closed, as shown in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 5, the trip rod 230. forces its plate 231) against the front end of the strip 21 and holds this strip in the full line position shown in Fig. 5 against the pressure of the spring 30. This brings the pivoted arm 260 in front of the rod 2! and it is evident that when the push rod 23a. is pushed inwardly it willresult in forcing the strip 21 further inwardl y against the pressure of the'spring 3!} and pushtherod 2| rearwardly and thereby cause the opening of the circuit breakers. Thus with the door closed, the breakers may be tripped manually from the outside of the door when the movable circuit breaker unit is in its operating position.- When the movable unit is in the test position, the-rod 2| is then adjoining the pivoted arm 28b, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, an it is evident that in this position the circuit breakers may be tripped'manually with the door closed by pushing the trip rod 23a. Likewise when the movable unit is in the disconnected position, the rod 21 will adjoin the arm 26aand the breakers may then be opened when the door is closed. Thus a common means serves to open the breakers when the door is closed in each of the three positions of the movable unit.

When the door of the compartment is opened, the strip 21 is relieved from the pressure of the trip rod and the spring 30 then causes the strip to be movedforwardly; but by reason of the fact that this strip is connected with the pivoted arms 26a, 26b and 260, the strip 21 is swung sidewise to the left of the compartment and the parts then assume positions as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 5. This action causes the arms 26a, 25b and 260 to be swung on their pivots towards the left-hand side of the compartment and moves them out of the path of the rod 2 1. Consequently, when the door is opened for the purpose of moving the movable unit from one position to another, the arms 26a, 26b and 25c will be out of the path of movement of the rod 2! and not be affected by them, or any one of them, to trip the breaker or to interfere with the free movement of the movable breaker unit forwardly or rearwardly. Upon closing the door of the compartment, the push rod 23a will again engage the front end of the strip 2'1 and cause the arms 26a, 26b and 260 to assume the full line position of Fig. 5 for effecting when desired the tripping of the breaker in any position of the movable unit. Obviously this improvement is adapted to control the opening of the breakers in more than three different positions if desired, by the addition of more controlling arms properly spaced from each other to engage the rod 2! in any position of the movable unit; and less than three controlling arms may be used if'desired.

The control for indicating on the outside of the door whether the breaker is open or closed in any position of the unit is, in the particular instance shown, governed by a pin 3! fixed to one of the circuit breaker contact arms l9 and which extends sidewise therefrom, as shown in Figs. 1 and 6. A sidewise extending pin 32 is fixed to one of the side portions E8 of the circuit breaker frame. A pair of arms 33, 3311 are pivotally mounted on the pin 32 and the arms are fixed to each other forming a bell crank lever. The arm 33a is engaged on its front edge by the pin 3]; and the arm 33 at its front end is provided with .a pin 34 which extends sidewise toward the right-hand side of the compartment.

A plate 35 is fixed to a frame support 36 which is at the right-hand side of thecompartment. A metal strip 31 is pivoted at its rear end on the support 35 and extends forwardly close to the inner side of the door and is provided at its front end with an indicating plate 31a located opposite an opening in the door. The pin 34 extends under the lower edge of the strip 31 in the region between the pivotal support of the strip and the front end of the strip. The support 35 is provided with a lug 35a on its inner side and its top surface is inclined, as shown inFig. 4, for.

limiting the extent of the downward movement of the strip 37 when released by the pin 34. Fixed to a portion of the frame of the compartment is a bent plate 38 of sheet metal and it serves'as a guide for the front portion of the strip 31, the

latter being freely movable in a slot 33a in the inwardly extending portion of the plate 38. This slot is open ended at its bottom to permit downward movement of the strip 31 until it engages the inclined surface of the lug 3511.

Referring to Fig. 2, there is provided at the right-hand side of the door opposite the indicat'or plate 37a a small opening 46. The plate 31a bears a label Off at its upper portion and a label On at its lower portion. One or the other of these labels is visible through the opening 40 depending upon whether the breaker is open or closed.

With the door closed and with the breaker in its closed position, as shown in Fig. 2, the pin 3! is in engagement with the arm 33a which causes the arm 33 and its pin 34 to hold the strip 31 in its upper position and thereby hold the movable indicator plate in its upper position to indicate that the breaker is closed. When the breaker moves to its open position, the pin 3! no longer retains the arm 33a in the position shown in Fig. 2 which permits the strip 37 to drop to its lowest position indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. This permits the indicator plate 37a to drop to its lowest position and thereby exposes the label Off on the front of the upper portion of the plate through the opening for indicating that the breaker is open. Upon closing the breaker, the pin 3! will turn the arms 83 and 33a in a clockwise direction, looking at Fig. 2, and thereb raise the movable indicator plate to indicate that the breaker is closed.

When the movable breaker unit is moved forwardly to the test position or to the disconnected position, the pin 34 is carried with the breaker unit under the strip 3'! and it follows that in either of these positions, the indicator will be controlled in the same manner as already described to indicate whether the breaker is open or closed. Thus a common controlling means is provided for indicating the closed or open position of the breaker through the opening in the door in any location of the movable breaker unit.

The improvements herein described may be applied to any form or type of circuit breaker having any number of poles and of the air break or oil type circuit breaker, as well as to breakers which are manually or automatically closed. Various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the invention in adapting the same to particular types and to particular applications.

I claim:

1. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element of said unit for tripping the breaker to open position upon actuation thereof, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, movable means within the compartment extending towards the door and including a portion adapted to engage said movable element and located in the path of movement of said movable element upon movement of said unit, said means being disassociated from said door, manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for actuating said movable means to trip the breaker, and means for moving said portion out of the path of movement of said movable element upon opening the door.

2. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element of said unit for tripping the breaker to open position upon actuation thereof, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, movable means within the compartment extending towards the door and including a portion adapted to engage said movable element and located in the path of movement of said movable element upon movement of said unit, said means bein disassociated from said door, manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for actuating said movable means to trip the breaker, and means for moving said portion .out of the path of movement of said movable element upon opening the door, said manually operable means engaging said movable means for moving said portion in the path of movement of said movable element upon closing the door.

3. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element of said unit for tripping the breaker to open position upon actuation thereof, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, movable means within the compartment extending towards the door and including a plurality of portions each respectively adapted to engage said movable element in diirerent positions of said unit and located in the path of movement of said movable element upon movement of said unit, manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for actuating said movable means to trip the breaker in the different positions of said unit, and means for moving said plurality of portions out of the path of movement of said movable element upon opening the door.

4. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element of said unit for tripping the breaker to open position upon actuation thereof, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, movable means within the compartment extending towards the door and including a plurality of portions each respectively adapted to engage said movable element in different positions of said unit and located in the path of movement of said movable element upon movement of said unit, manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for actuating said movable means to trip the breaker in the diiferent positions of said unit, and means for moving said plurality of portions out of the path of movement of said movable element upon opening the door, said manually operable means engaging said movable means for moving said plurality of portions in the path of movement of said movable element upon closing the door.

5. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element of said unit for tripping the breaker to open position upon actuation thereof, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, a slidable element within the compartment and extending towards the door and including a plurality of portions each respectively adapted to engage said movable element in diiierent positions of said unit, manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for actuating said slidable element to trip the breaker in the different positions of said unit, and a spring engaging said slidable element for movin said plurality of portions out of the path of movement of said movable element upon opening the door, said manually operabl means actuating said slidable element to move said plurality of portions in the path of movement of said movable element upon closing the door.

6. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element for tripping the breaker, a compartment for enclosing said unit, means within the compartment extending towards the front of the compartment for tripping the breaker to its open position, said means including a plurality of spaced portions for respectively engaging said movable element for tripping the breaker in difierent positions of the movable unit and including a common element for actuating said portions, and manually operable means mounted at the front of the compartment for actuating said common element for tripping the breaker in any one of said positions.

, 7. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element for tripping the breaker, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, means within the compartment extending towards the door for tripping the breaker to its open position, said means including a plurality of spaced portions for respectively engaging said movable element for tripping the breaker in different positions of the movable unit and including a common element for actuating said portions, and manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for engaging said common element for actuating said first named means to trip the breaker in any one of said positions.

'8. The combination of a movable circuit breaker unit, a movable element for tripping the breaker, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, means within the compartment extending towards the door for tripping the breaker to its open position, said means including a plurality of spaced portions for respectively engaging said movable element for tripping the breaker in different positions of the movable unit and including a common element for actuating said portions, and manually operable means mounted on the door and operable from the front of the door for engaging said common element for actuating said first named means to trip the breaker in any one of said positions, said manual means being disconnected from said first named means by the opening of the door.

9. A circuit breaker unit arranged for movement to a plurality of positions comprising, in combination, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, means for manually closing said breaker, and auxiliary means for man ually opening said breaker in any one of said positions, said auxiliary means comprising a tripping element supported upon and movable With said door, said element being manually operable from the front of said door, a plurality of spaced arms adapted for tripping said breaker in any one of said positions, said arms being operatively connected with said tripping element, and circuit breaker latching means responsive to movement of said arms for opening saidbreaker in any one of said positions.

10. A circuit breaker unit arranged for movement to a plurality of positions comprising, in combination, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, means for manually closing said breaker only while said door is opened,

and auxiliary means for opening said breaker, said auxiliary means comprising a tripping element supported upon and operable from the front of said door, a plurality of individual armsadapted for respectively tripping said breaker in any one of said positions, said arms being operatively connected with said tripping element, and circuit breaker latching means responsive to movement of said arms for opening said breaker.

11. A circuit breaker unit arranged for movement to a plurality of positions comprising, in combination, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, means for closing said breaker only while said door is opened, and auxiliary means for manually opening said breaker while said door is closed, said auxiliary means comprising a tripping element supported upon and movable with said door, said element being manually operable from the front of said door, a plurality of spaced arms adapted for tripping said breaker in any one of said positions, said arms being operatively connected with said tripping element only at predetermined positions of said circuit breaker, and circuit breaker latching means responsive to said arms for opening said breaker in any one of said positions.

12. A circuit breaker unit arranged for movement to a plurality of positions, comprising, in combination, a compartment, including a door fo enclosing said breaker unit, and control means for tripping said breaker, said control means comprising a tripping element supported upon and movable with said door, said element being manually operable from the front of said door, a plurality of spaced arms adapted for tripping said breaker in any one of said positions, a common member for operatively connecting said arms with said tripping element only while said door is closed, and circuit breaker latching means responsive to movement of said arms for respectively opening said breaker in any one of said positions.

13. A circuit breaker unit arranged for movement from an operating position to a test position or vice versa comprising, in combination, a compartment including a door for enclosing said unit, and control means for manually opening said breaker only while said door is closed, said control means comprising a tripping element supported upon and movable with said door, said means being manually operable from the front of said door, a plurality of spaced arms adapted.

for tripping said breaker respectively in the op erating and test positions of said breaker, a member for operatively connecting said arms with said tripping element, said arms being rendered ineffective intermediate the test and operating positions, and circuit breaker latching means responsive to movement of said arms for opening said breaker in any one of said positions.

HAROLD E. PEARSON. 

